Small signs of normal life returned to Cairo Sunday, with traffic flowing and some stores and banks reopening, but Egypt's army chief warned that the city could blow up again at any time.

General Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi said police will not stand by and silently watch the country be destroyed. He threatened to use force against attacks on government buildings and police stations by anti-government protesters.

But Sisi said the army has no intention of seizing power. He also called on Islamic supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi to join the political process, saying "there is room for everyone."

Morsi supporters marched toward the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo, but they canceled two other protest marches scheduled for Sunday. They claim snipers were planted along the streets.

Also Sunday, the interior ministry reported 36 members of the pro-Morsi Muslim Brotherhood were suffocated by tear gas during an attempted prison break in northern Cairo.

The New York Times and Washington Post newspapers reported that U.S., European and Arab diplomats were close to a deal between the Brotherhood and Egypt's interim government that could have prevented last week's bloodbath when police destroyed two Cairo protest camps. The newspapers said Egyptian military leaders rejected the compromise.

The official death toll from Wednesday's raids exceeds 800, while the Brotherhood puts it in the thousands.

The interim government held an emergency Cabinet meeting Sunday to discuss whether to ban the Brotherhood, a long-outlawed organization that swept to power in the country's first democratic elections last year.